2009 PBA Draft Results

Posted by Jaemark Tordecilla on August 2, 2009 at 22:21 | Comments (13)

As expected, Burger King made Japeth Aguilar the first overall pick in the 2009 PBA Draft. While the top picks went as planned, there were a handful of surprises, with a huge WTF moment with Alaska’s pick of Michael Burtscher. I’m guessing Rafe Bartholomew will now light himself on fire. Dude, how’s that tan coming along? My suggestion for your new Pinoy name: Rafael Baldemor. Parang bold star, diba?

The biggest trade, broken by Patricia Hizon on Twitter, is Coke’s acquisition of Chris Ross along with other draft picks from Burger King, in exchange for Ronjay Buenafe and free upsize drinks at all BK outlets. GMA News added that Marvin Cruz and Larry Rodriguez will also be going to Coke as part of the deal, while giving up Nic Belasco to Talk N Text. Coke assistant Bo Perasol also hinted at another big trade. My guess? Alex Cabagnot for one of Purefoods’ big men, possibly Enrico Villanueva.

I got 16 out of 19 draftees right, including eight out of nine in the first round. But the Burtscher pick threw my board out of whack. I'm still expecting the three guys I missed, Bryan Faundo, Ian Saladaga, and Josh Urbiztondo, to crack a roster this season. I missed Benedict Fernandez, Sean Co, and Charles Waters.

Anyway, the draft results:

First round

Burger King (acquired from Barako Bull): Japeth Aguilar - I love the fact that BK management is even denying that they'll sell Aguilar down the line. Puh-lease. He'll be in a Talk N Text jersey at the start of the 2010 season.

The second overall pick, originally belonging to Coca-Cola, is forfeited after it was traded to the now-disbanded Shell franchise.

Purefoods: Rico Maierhofer - I know they're working on a trade to get help in the backcourt, but wouldn't it be funny if Ryan "The Genius" Gregorio went into the season with 15 guys at power forward? That way he'll have a built-in excuse when they inevitably fail to make it out of the wildcard again. Btw, I saw some fans in the various message boards call him Ryan "Wildcard" Gregorio. I'd get on board, but Binky Favis might sue me for royalties over the nickname.

Coca-Cola (acquired from Burger King): Chris Ross - Love the pick. Too bad they don't have a Kelly Williams-type athlete, because Ross might have Ryan Reyes-like impact on the team.

Rain or Shine: Jervy Cruz - I'm disappointed that they didn't mention that he'll be reunited with former Hapee Toothpaste teammate Gabe Norwood on RoS.

Alaska: Michael Burtscher - There's no truth to the rumors that they drafted Burtscher so that Sonny Thoss would have someone to go clubbing with at Embassy, or that Joaqui Trillo and Tim Cone had a couple of rounds of scotch at Trelli's before the draft, or that Burtscher reminded the Alaska coaching staff of a young, strapping Dickie Bachmann.

Barako Bull (acquired from Sta. Lucia): Ogie Menor - Would this Barako Bull team even win against Menor's teams at San Beda?

Ginebra: Chris Timberlake - Again, there's no truth to the rumor that Jong Uichico has been collecting guards because he's putting up a security agency.

Burger King (acquired from Talk N Text): Ronnie Matias - This was the biggest mortal lock in the draft. Matias was born to play for Yeng Guiao.

San Miguel: James Sena - It's good that Sena will be playing a lot over the next couple of months for JRU, because he won't be seeing much action with SMB.

Second round

Sta. Lucia (acquired from Coca-Cola): Mark Benitez - Boyet Fernandez was apparently smitten over Benitez in the days leading up to the draft. Benitez didn't even have to fake his records to get drafted.

Barako Bull: Benedict Fernandez - Why the hell would they draft another midget shooting guard who can't create his own shot? They already have Magnum Membrere, who by the way towered over Fernandez during the photo-op.

Barako Bull (acquired from Purefoods): Edwin Asoro - Looks like the Energy Boosters are making serious strides in their build-up to win a championship. In the PBL.

Coca-Cola (acquired from Burger King): Francis Allera - I'm surprised that he measured out to be about 6' 4". This is a good pick. He could be this year's Jeff Chan.

Rain or Shine: Marcy Arellano - This is a great pick, giving them another guard who can get to the basket apart from Sol Mercado.

Alaska: Sean Co - I would write a joke here, but he's probably not even gonna make the lineup, so I won't bother.

Sta. Lucia: Charles Waters - See, I would have gotten this pick right if any of the papers reported that he was Kelly Williams' brother-in-law.

Ginebra: Orlando Daroya - Now JC Intal would have someone to tell his problems about his lovelife at the end of the Ginebra bench.

Talk N Text: Kevin White - Well, he is Jimmy Alapag's nephew.

Coca-Cola (acquired from Burger King): PJ Walsham - It's just apt that he ends up with the same franchise where Manny Ramos and Mike Gavino played. The Coca-Cola Tigers: Where second-rate La Salle big men come to roost.

Comments (13) | Trackbacks (2)
Tags: Air 21 Express / Burger King Whoppers, Alaska Aces, B-MEG Derby Ace Llamados / Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants, Barako Bull Energy Boosters / Barako Energy Coffee Masters, Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, Basketball, Japeth Aguilar, Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine Basketball League, Powerade Tigers / Coca-Cola Tigers, Rafe Bartholomew, Rain or Shine Elastopainters, Ryan "The Genius" Gregorio, San Beda Red Lions, San Miguel Beermen, Solar Sports, Sta. Lucia Realtors, Talk N Text Tropang Texters

Trackbacks

Fire Quinito PBA Preview, part 1
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Tracked: Oct 12, 02:51

Burger King trades Gary David and Chico Lanete for Coca-Cola’s Alex Cabagnot, Wesley Gonzales, and free upsize drinks
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Tracked: Jan 06, 16:19

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Comments

#1 AJ on 2009-08-02 22:39 (Reply)

first!

bilis mo mag-blog.

good deal ba yung free upsize sa BK? baka pwede i-extend sa jollibee at mcdo yung deal. hehe

what's the joke with Sean Co? lolz

#2 Rafe on 2009-08-02 23:13 (Reply)

First of all, thanks for getting this up. I've been refreshing Inquirer.net and PhilStar.com all morning and got nothing, and the PBA site is down na naman.

That Burtscher pick has to be the biggest 1st Round sucker punch since Isiah Thomas drafted Renaldo Balkman, and everyone made the "did he think he was drafting Ronaldo Blackmon?" joke. And both picks were made by my respective teams. I spent a lot of time with the Alaska franchise, but I can't pretend to know the thought process here. One trend is becoming clear: If you played for Cebuana Lhuillier under coach Luigi Trillo in 2007, you can sit on Alaska's bench for a while. They drafted Bono and now Burtscher, they've hired Nico Uy and Chris Viardo as practice players, and they took on Ariel Capus as a free agent. Now, all they have to do is pick up Macky Escalona and pluck Don Dulay from RoS, and the cycle will be complete. I don't get it, but there seems to be a trend. And, as Ariel Capus and Ken Bono will probably admit, Alaska is as good a place to ride the pine as any. It's one of the few PBA franchises where Fil-Ams and locals really seem to enjoy being around each other. In fact, although the franchise is known for using their "family" approach to lowball players during contract negotiations, the family vibe does exist at Alaska. Plus, you get to be around Jeff Cariaso, maybe the PBA's classiest player, and Willie Miller, certainly the funniest (although it looks like they could both be gone by next season, and if so, all bets are off). If Poch Juiño stays on in a reserve role, you get another top-10 hilarious guy to pal around with. And as long as Bong Hawkins is on the sidelines, hijinks will ensue. All in all, I imagine Burtscher will have a fine time watching these guys play.

I would have tipped you on Charles Waters if I knew that he was no longer going by Lamont. He's in great shape, and he plays really, really hard. Doesn't have the greatest instincts, but he tries on defense and can be very tough to box out. He's also a good guy who won't mind playing limited minutes. Unless one of the undrafteds ends up killing SLR someday, you can't do much worse than that.

So if TNT is picking up Nic and Kevin White, which Fil-Ams have to go? Ali probably isn't heading back to Coke so soon. Harvey? Would they move Jimmy to make way for Castro? Whoever is on the outs, I imagine they're pissed. Nobody likes to get kicked off that MVP gravy train. Double bonus! Triple bonus! House and lot! Free load!

Wait a minute. Don't I have a blog that I never update? Why am I just commenting here all the time? I'm going to republish this over at Manila Vanilla.

#2.1 jaemark on 2009-08-03 00:08 (Reply)

Wow, that Alaska trend is very... interesting. I always found Luigi Trillo's demeanor at the sidelines during Alaska games odd, like he's more fired up than the two guys ahead of him (Cone and Banal). Is there any intriga there?

I think the Waters pick is a favor for Kelly Williams, and as you said, he's an energy guy, so he can't hurt. But how about the much-maligned SLR franchise? Did you see the reports that not only did they shoulder all of Williams' medical bills, but they also just re-signed him to a new max contract, even without any assurance that he'll recover anytime soon. They may not have access to the MVP purse, but if you're a player, you can't ask for more from an organization like that, really.

I don't think White's gonna make it to the TNT team, but I wonder who they'd let go to make room for Nic? Rob Reyes is rotting on the bench, but he's still young. I think it'll either be Ali or Harvey Carey, neither of whom should have a hard time finding other offers... but yeah, goodbye to the fat bonuses.

#2.2 for real on 2009-08-03 00:35 (Reply)

BGK is trading timberlake, artadi, and reavis for Enrico Villanueva, Alvarez, Celino Cruz, and Bugia. Bugia is a throw in and is most likely to be released.

#3 Genarts on 2009-08-02 23:34 (Reply)

I never thought that Quinito's draft blog is funny.

I like the fact that Jong is building a security agency that is why he picking up guards. Tubid, Baguio, now Timberlake. While the reverse on that for Purefoods, they are building Forwards. Or perhaps they should be Air21. There is these call TRADE, you don't overload on one position.

James Sena is welcome in the San Miguel League. At least as the contract stipulated if SMB wins championship you are part of the bonus too.

Burger King is cash strap, they are selling not only burgers but basketball players too. All they need is fatten them up.

#3.1 jaemark on 2009-08-02 23:59 (Reply)

dude, i'm not quinito

#4 Jude on 2009-08-02 23:53 (Reply)

I was about to write something similar regarding Luigi and Alaska but Rafe beat me to it.

Peace.

#4.1 jaemark on 2009-08-03 00:09 (Reply)

Wala na akong maidagdag, except to say that I was a big fan of the Jude Turcuato-Ria Tanjuatco "love team" back in the UAAP SilverStar days. Hehehe.

#4.1.1 Jude on 2009-08-03 13:11 (Reply)

Hahaha. Ria continues to be one of my best friends. I miss those days at Silverstar.

Peace.

#4.2 Rafe on 2009-08-03 01:11 (Reply)

Us NU Wildcats are always a step ahead.

#4.2.1 Jude on 2009-08-03 18:28 (Reply)

Now we just have to figure out how to get NU Wildcats drafted as well in whatever league. :)

Kelvin Dela Pena, Alaska's pick last year also played for Luigi in the PBL.

At least we know Tim Cone listens to his assitant coaches.

Peace.

#5 thomasmmm on 2009-08-03 21:21 (Reply)

thanks for this! the PDI didn't bother making a decent pick-by-pick ranking in their article www.ta.gd/dyslexc

#6 ralph noblezada on 2009-11-04 11:31 (Reply)

why is it almost all the draft pick are fil-ams?

is there no way e can produce great players in our own way?

thankz..